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Thursday, 6 June 2013

Upanishad in the Eyes of Swami Vivekananda - 2

ॐ
वीरेश्वराय विद्महे विवेकानन्दाय
धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।

Upanishadic message

Let us now turn to the message of the Upanishads. The most
important message is the identity of jivàtman and the Paramàtman.
The Upanishads take up a wonderful allegory. It says, let us take
a lump of clay. From this lump of clay have been fashioned a pot,
a doll, and various other items. All of them have been
manufactured out of clay. Essentially they are all clay. If you
dip them into water they will dissolve. They would be bereft of
what we call nàma (name) and rupa (form).

The Upanishads tell us that it is nàma and rupa which separate us
from one another. Essentially we are âtman. But it is these
upàdhis or adjuncts of nàma and rupa which have created all these
differences, all this variety in life. Thus we have become
individuals—men or women, a young man or an aged woman, etc. All
these differentiations are caused by name and form. Then, how do
we know about the essential oneness? About Brahman? The Upanishads
tell us that we must be able to do shravana, manana and
nididhyàsana. That is, listen to the great message first
(shravana). Then think over that rationally (manana). Then delve
deep, meditate on it (nididhyàsana).

As you do that, these apparently difficult truths gradually reveal
their secrets to you. You then understand that essentially the
self and the Supreme Self are not different. It is nàma and rupa
which have separated them, as it were! The Upanishads thus mention
a number of dictums which are to be thought over. Swamiji mentions
them again and again in his writings and throws light on the
essential oneness of the Self. He tells us: Bring the thoughts of
the Upanishads down to every man, to the fisherman, to the farmer
on the field, the student working in the class-room; discuss with
everyone the great message of the Upanishads.

Swamiji tells us a wonderful story about the greatness of the
Upanishads. The story goes that there was a flock of sheep. Into
that flock fell a lioness. As she was about to catch her prey, she
gave birth to a cub. This cub gradually grew up and moved along
with other sheep. One day it so happened that another lion saw the
flock but was amazed to see a lion in their midst. The young lion
was moving like other sheep! How could it be so, thought the lion
in wonderment! So he came running, left the other sheep and caught
the young lion by the neck and drew him to a river. The young lion
kept bleating in terror. He wanted to go with the other sheep. But
the big lion would not let him go. He took him to the riverside
and said: ‘Don’t you see that my face and that of yours are
similar?’ But the cub would not believe. He went on bleating as
before. Then the lion searched around and found a pound of flesh
smeared with blood. He thrust the flesh into the mouth of the cub.
As the cub tasted blood, his lion spirit was roused and he roared
out as the lion does. At last the huge lion was happy. Swamiji
says, the Upanishads also want to give us the message of truth,
the message of strength. ‘Be strong’, Swamiji would say. From the
Upanishads, he wanted us to learn how to become àshisto,
drarishtha and valishtha. Be strong. Only then you can understand
this great message of the Upanishads, he said again and again.

Swamiji was very fond of the Kathopanishad. It includes a story of
a young student called ‘Nachiketà’. His father was about to
perform a sacrifice. But being a stingy person, he did not want to
give away all his belongings as he had pledged earlier. Nachiketà
was seated there and watched his father giving away the calves and
cows which were bereft of any strength whatsoever. He offered such
cows that would not be able to give any milk, would not be able to produce
any offspring. Nachiketà observed all this niggardliness and went
up to his father at last in utter dismay and said, ‘Father, whom
do you give me to?’ His father was annoyed. He understood that his
son was making a dig at him. He listened to the question once,
twice, thrice, and then blurted out: ‘Yes, I give you to Yama.’
Nachiketà was surprised. He said, ‘Bahunàm emi prathamo bahunàm emi madhyamah;
kimsvit yamasya kartavyam yanmayàdya karishyati.’ That is, ‘Among
many I am the first, among many I could be the middle one.

But I am last among none. Then how is it that my father sends me
to Yama. What service will father render to Yama by sending me to
him?’ Swamiji says, the Upanishad mentions ‘shraddhà àvivesha’.
Shraddhà descends on Nachiketà and he said, ‘Am I a riff-raff? I
am a person with dignity. How can my father send me to Yama, the
Lord of Death?’ His father, Vàjashravà, is now repentant. He comes
to Nachiketà and cajoles him. But Nachiketà is firm. He, says,
‘No, just like the corns, they are born and they die. Similarly,
men and women, they are born and they die. But truth remains. So
what you have said, let that take place.’

The young boy then reached the land of Yama. Yama, as you know, is
a very busy person. He was not there in his mansion. So the young
boy waits at his doorsteps. After three days Yama returns and he wants to please the boy. But is it easy to please that boy? Yama
gives him three boons and the third boon contains the essence of
this Upanishad. Nachiketà here asks the prime question which
Swamiji was greatly fond of. Nachiketà asks Yama, Yeyam prete vichikitsà
manushye-‘stityeke nàyamastiti chaike;
Etadvidyàmanushishtastvayà’ ham varànàmesha varastritiyah. Thus
Nachiketà asks Yama, ‘When this body withers away, men die, where
do they go? There are some who say that nothing remains after the
body is burnt out. But there are others, who say, “No, there is a
continuum. There is something which stays back”. Will you, O Yama,
tell me about this continuum? Will you give me a clear answer to
this question?’ Yama was shaken. He did not answer this question
in a straightforward manner. In fact, he did not expect this
question. So, he puts a number of temptations in front of
Nachiketà. He said, ‘ You are a young boy. Even the gods would not
like to put that question.’ But Nachiketà stuck to his question.

This deep self-confidence, uncompromising quest for Truth is a
lesson for all of us. Swami Saradanandaji in his great Bengali
biography of Sri Ramakrishna—Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga—has
written a chapter the title of which is ‘âshcharyo vaktà
kushalosya labdhà.’ The purport of this title is that when both
the teacher and the student are equally wonderful, only then you
can find the greatest flow of knowledge about the Self or
âtmajnàna. Saradanandaji refers to this statement in connection
with the conversation that Sri Ramakrishna had with Narendranath
(later Swami Vivekananda). The ‘àshcharya vaktà, that Sri
Ramakrishna was, gave the highest principles of Vedanta to his
young disciple, Narendranath, who was like a lion cub. It was not
easy to convince him. But Sri Ramakrishna was a patient teacher
who gradually convinced his disciple. It was thus Narendranath
took upon himself the task of preaching the message of Vedanta in
the modern age. What did Swamiji pick out as the carnel of
Vedanta? Let us look at another Upanishad, the Brihadàranyaka
Upanishad, that Swamiji was fond of. This is often described as
the prime of the Upanishads. This Upanishad was narrated by a sage
whose name was Yàjnavalkya. As with all Upanishads, there is a
story in this Upanishad also. The story goes that Yàjnavalkya had
two wives. One was Maitreyi and another was Kàtyàyani. Yàjnavalkya
decided to give up his hearth and home and retire to the forests
forever. Before he could do so, he called his two wives and said,
‘Maitreyi and Kàtyàyani, I want to divide up this property between
you two’. Kàtyàyani was happy. But Maitreyi was not. She looked up
to Yàjnavalkya and said, ‘Will this property give me immortality?’
‘No, it won’t’, said the sage. ‘In that case, what is the use of
this property?’ said Maitreyi. Yàjnavalkya was satisfied because
he noticed the prajnà or wisdom of his wife. It was thus the flow
of his teachings started. The wonderful teaching of Yàjnavalkya
was also a great favourite of Swami Vivekananda. Yàjnavalkya says,
‘Na và are patyuh kàmàya patih priyo bhavati, àtmanastu kàmàya
patih priyo bhavati.’ Yàjnavalkya says, ‘O dear, it is not that
for the husband per se that the wife is fond of the husband. But
it is because of the âtman that shines within that makes the
husband so dear to her.’ Then he goes on saying that all objects
in this universe, the husband to the wife, the son to the mother,
the belongings of the world—all these are dear and covetable
because, after all, they are reflections of the Eternal Supreme
âtman. It is here in the discussion on the Brihadàranyaka
Upanishad that Swamiji turns out, as the great historian K. M.
Panikkar says, to be the modern-day Shankara.